Wireless local area networks (WLANs) have evolved with the introduction of various Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, and IEEE 802.11ac. In general, the later in time the IEEE 802.11 standard was introduced, the more data throughput provided by network devices operating according to the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, single user (SU) data throughput of network devices operating according to IEEE 802.11b is 11 mega-bits-per-second (Mbps), whereas SU data throughput of network devices operating according to IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11g is 54 Mbps. The SU data throughput of network devices operating according to IEEE 802.11n is 600 Mbps. The SU data throughput of network devices operating according to IEEE 802.11ac is greater than 1 giga-bits-per-second (Gbps).
WLANs operating according to IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, or IEEE 802.11ad operate in 2.4 giga-hertz (GHz), 5 GHz, and 60 GHz frequency bands. The 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 60 GHz bands refer to a 2.4-2.5 GHz frequency range, a 5.725-5.875 frequency range, and a 61-61.5 GHz frequency range. The lower the band (or frequency range), the larger the range (or distance) signals can be transmitted between network devices. To further increase the transmission distance of a network device, IEEE 802.11 standards such as IEEE 802.11ah and 802.11af have been introduced. Network devices operating according to IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.11af exhibit signal transmission in sub-1 GHz frequency ranges.
A network device operating according to IEEE 802.11ah transmits and receives signals in a sub-1 GHz band (e.g., 900 MHz band). Signals are transmitted at center frequencies of less than 1 GHz with bandwidths of 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, or 16 MHz. The bandwidths are 10 times (10×) downclocked from bandwidths (20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz) associated with IEEE 802.11ac.